NORWICH, Norfolk, 13 June 2016 – UK pubs recorded an estimated 26% surge in revenues over the opening weekend of Euro 2016, compared to an average weekend in June, as all three of the qualifying Home Nations: England, Wales and Northern Ireland took the field. The estimated figures are based on sales data from an anonymised sample of 500 UK pubs, all of which use a cloud-based point-of-sale solution from Norwich-based tech start-up, Epos Now.
Wales, whose team had not appeared at a major football tournament since 1958, saw the biggest increases, with pub sales up a whopping 41% on the 2015 average for a Saturday in June. There was a ramp up in drink sales across the afternoon and then a big surge in after-match celebration drinking.
English pubs saw a smaller 23% surge in takings on Saturday compared to the overall average for Saturdays in June 2015 – perhaps at least in part due to the more disappointing result achieved by their team. Finally, in spite of the national side losing to Poland, pubs in Northern Ireland saw a significant 29% increase in sales versus the average June Sunday last year.
Jacyn Heavens, founder of Epos Now, said: “Given that average takings for a summer weekend are typically high anyway, these increases underline the huge level of interest in Euro 2016 across the UK and highlight the tremendous power of live football as a revenue driver for pubs.”
Looking ahead, Epos Now expects the momentum to continue this week, despite the fact that the next big match, England v Wales kicks off at 2pm this Thursday (16 June) rather than at the weekend. Epos Now’s projected figures estimate that on the day of the match, the average UK pub can expect a 21% surge on its usual takings for a Thursday in June. They also estimate that if Wales win, Cardiff pubs would see a 32% surge on their evening sales while London pubs would only witness a 9% increase if there was an England victory.
Of course, it’s not just those people enjoying an evening out who will be drinking while watching the game, convenience stores are already stocking up on alcohol ahead of the tournament. Epos Now figures, released at the end of May, indicated that to that point they had placed orders for 8% more bottled beer and 11% more canned beer than at the equivalent time last year.